Defense program awards DLA Land and Maritime engineer for new microcircuit device class

COLUMBUS, Ohio -

A Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime engineer is drawing Defense Department notice for his work with radiation hardened plastic encapsulated microcircuits. On Aug. 6, Rodney Chambers received the Defense Standardization Program's distinguished achievement award and a $5,000 first-place winner's check for his outstanding contributions during fiscal year 2023.

Chambers is an electronics engineer in the Document Standardization Division's Active Devices Branch within DLA Land and Maritime's Engineering and Technical Support Directorate. He played a key role in the development and addition of a new Class P plastic encapsulated microcircuit - or PEM - device class for military and space applications. The new Class P devices with radiation hardened assurance will allow original equipment manufacturers - known as OEMs - to use state-of-the-art PEM products not previously documented under the military specification for integrated circuit manufacturing.

"Class P devices are smaller, lighter and significantly more cost-effective than ceramic hermetic devices and will allow the Air Force, Space Force and NASA satellite programs to develop the highest quality military weapon and space system platforms, thereby ensuring successful mission outcomes," the Defense Standardization Program stated in a release announcing award winners.

Chambers said the new device class he helped develop will have a positive impact on OEMs by enabling them to obtain a standardized device from multiple suppliers through a DLA standard microcircuit drawing.

Prior to the Class P specification, OEMs had to rely on commercial off-the-shelf plastic encapsulated microcircuit components as well as bearing the burden of assuring the device's performance level, quality and reliability for military and space grade mission applications, Chambers explained.

Chambers' expertise enabled the rapid development of the new specification, his nomination noted. He gathered important stakeholders from the space community, device manufacturers, OEMs and other government agencies to collaborate on requirements. Chambers was also instrumental in determining critical screening and quality conformance inspection testing requirements for the new devices and assembling industry partner teams to resolve issues.

Working with the space community is not new for the DLA Land and Maritime engineer.

Chambers, who has worked within the Document Standardization Division for nine years, interned with NASA throughout college shadowing electrical engineers at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland prior to joining DLA. Following college, Chambers applied for federal positions with the encouragement of his uncle and said he didn't hesitate to join the DLA team once the opportunity presented itself.

Though the DSP award is a solo recognition, Chambers was quick to credit his peers. "This achievement was accomplished with the coordination and feedback gathered from my fellow engineers in V and the coordination with our OEMs as well as our user community. I sincerely appreciate everyone's support. Striving to put forth my best performance of duty is always my goal."

The DSP Achievement Awards honor personnel and organizations across the military services and defense agencies for outstanding performance in the implementation of the Defense Standardization Program. Recipients have made singular improvements in technical perfor­­mance, greatly enhanced safety for DOD personnel and avoided billions of dollars in costs. Winners are announced annually during the DSP Conference held in Washington, D.C.

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